First day of School

So the kids went back to school on Wednesday August 20th and part of me is so excited to have them there and part of me is really sad that they are back in school....I'm glad cuz now I don't have to worry about a babysitter for them, even though my mom, mother in law, and sister watched them all summer(Thank you guys for that I really appreciate it and don't know what I would have done without all of you, so thank you from the bottom of my heart), and now on my days off and I can get more done cuz the kids are in school, but I'm sad cuz now summer is over, and now we have to get back into a routine, of early bed times, homework, etc, etc. I love to be able to just let them relax and enjoy being a kid...I'm also sad cuz it means they are moving up one grade, they are growing so fast, M'Tali is in fourth grade, Dallin is in second, and Koda is in his last year of preschool, even though M'Tali will stay at Freedom Academy till she goes to High School, which seems like FOREVER, but me and Josh were talking the other night and she only has this year and FOUR more years!!! FOUR MORE I can't believe it she is growing up so fast.




Isn't he the cutest second grader ever!! She is the cutest(and probably the tallest) fourth grader.
Aren't they so cute in their uniforms....I love that wear uniforms, it makes shopping so much easier, there is no arguing about wether I like it or not, if they can wear it to school then they get to buy it, if not I don't. Plus I don't have to worry about wether or not they match all they can wear is blue and khaki pants and red, white, or blue polos, or any shirt in that color that has a collar on it....I LOVE IT!!
Dallin in his classroom....so Dallin wanted every picture taken of him, he want one of him putting his backpack on the hook, one of him sitting their, he even wanted me to take a picture of one of his friends, he is still young enough not to be to embarrassed and then there is........
M'Tali who didn't even want me to take one in her classroom, she just wanted to stand there in front of the door and take her picture, so no one would see her getting her picture taken, she is so excited to be in fourth grade, cuz now her class is upstairs, all the grades from 4th to 8th grade are upstairs, she loves that she doesn't have to be downstairs with the "LITTLE KIDS"

AMERICAN IDOL TRYOUTS!!

Koda loves music and is always singing...he will talk to you and sing what ever he is trying to tell you, so while we were out camping he was singing this little song that he made up, and I filmed him while he sang...so pause the music at the bottom and push play....who knows maybe one day he will be the next American Idol

WhAt A WaY To EnD SuMmEr!!!

M'Tali wanted me to take a picture of her in her new swimming suit so that everyone could see it, Its way cute, it also has a skirt that goes with it that matches the top.

M'Tali, Dallin, Koda love to go to yuba, I think it is there favorite spot to camp for one it only takes about an hour and ten minutes to get there, and they are pretty much allowed to play in the water all they want as long as they have their life jackets on...and they pretty much only come out to eat....We love it and this was such a fun way to end summer.

Dallin loves to fish and would sit there for hours and just throw his pole out... leave out there for about ten seconds and then bring it in..cast it back out leave it there for ten seconds bring it back in......you get the idea...he did this for about two hours.
Koda getting ready to go on the tube

This is a fish that Josh's cousins fiance caught...it is a Northern Pike and is 40 1/4 inches long...the biggest fish to be taken out of Yuba was 43 inches

OuR LaSt CaMpInG TrIp Of ThE SuMmEr :(

Me, Koda, and my niece Kaylee just "chillin". They both just came out of the water and were so cold and I was trying to get them warm Koda thinks hes hot stuff...ok so do I!!!

Wow..who let these rock stars go camping with us I don't remember bringing them with us!!
"What mom I wasn't going to throw this!" My favorite part of Yuba is being able to jump on the wave runner with the kids and going for a ride on the lake...koda loved the wave runner and was always on it...he was the first one to go on the tube...Me and josh spent all day taking the kids on tube rides it was so much fun, I'm so sad to see summer ending.

POTTER'S POND!!!

One of our favorite camping spots is potter's pond, It is up fairview canyon about a two hour drive from here. The area is amazing, we have made it into one of our yearly traditions. M'Tali posing in front of our trailer. M'Tali, Koda, and Cole loved this puppy his name is Merf and they wouldn't let him go all weekend. The kids weren't able to ride their fourwheelers all weekend cuz we fould out that they have to be eight years old to drive them and they have to be certified(they have to take a safety class) so the rangers wouldn't let them ride or we would have gotten a $100.00 ticket for each one of them, we will wait a few weeks till Dallin turns eight and go get them certified so we don't have anymore problems. So this little seven week old puppy kept them entertained all weekend.
Josh and his cousin Ryan.

M'Tali and Kade playing together, they had so much fun all weekend together. One of our friends Aaron played 500 ( a football game where you throw the ball up and yell out any number from 1-500 and whoever catches the ball gets that many points) with them all weekend, thanks Aaron for entertaining them. This is part of potters pond, I took this as we were leaving the potter's pond area. This is how pretty it is up there, we couldn't have asked for a better weekend to go it rained a little bit just enough to keep the dust down. I can't wait till we are able to go again next year, we had so much fun.

Random Posting....

So as many of you know, both me and Josh come from a very patriotic family, we both have had family members service in the military, and Josh has a cousin that just got back from Iraq and he has a cousin that is still in Afghanistan..so why this random posting??? I was driving home from work today and a song came on the radio called"Just A Dream" by Carrie Underwood, The song was about a girl that had just turned 18(young I know) and instead of going to the church to get married she going there for the funeral of what I'm assuming was her boyfriend, maybe fiance that was killed in a war...the song was so good I was crying and couldn't hardly see to drive home. When I got home I found the song and added it to my play list, So as you listen to this song, I ask that you just remember our service men and women that serve for OUR freedom, include them and their families in your prayers.

"STADIUM OF FIRE"

This year we got the chance to get M'Tali tickets to the stadium of fire to see Miley Cyrus. She was so excited, we kept it a secret until that night, we gave her the tickets right before it started, she was so excited she almost started crying(I think she did cry, but she said she didn't). We were on the 16th row on the field. M'Tali standing behind Shawn Bradley who played with the BYU basketball team.( He let us take a picture of her with him, but I took it with my camera and after we were done she wanted it with her camera to so she just stood there while I took it, it gives you the general idea of how tall he is anyways, after I get my pictures developed I'll post it)
The blue man group was awesome, they were so entertaining.
MILEY CYRUS....of course this was M'Tali's highlight of the evening, she was in heaven, and I was to, being able to see her and the excitement she had being able to see Miley in concert...It truly was a dream come true for both of us. We both had a ton of fun being able to spend some quality mother-daughter time together. I just want M'Tali to know how much I love her and how proud I am of her.

FOURTH OF JULY PARADE!!

Koda and Cole at the fourth of July Parade....Best buddies M'Tali, Dallin, and Koda at the parade....We had a lot of fun at the parade as we do every year. This year it was just me and the kids, we met Josh's cousin and her kids, his aunt and his grandpa there. Josh had to work...it was good money but we missed him.
The military is always one of my favorite parts of the parade. They sacrifice so much so that we can live in this free country. Josh's cousin Greg is serving in Afghanistan and will be there for about a year. He left two kids and a wife to help protect America. Our thougths and prayers are with him and his wife Lisa and their family and all the military men and women as they are away from home. We pray for a safe return for all of them.

And of course M'Tali's favorite float in the parade was the jazz float....since she is the BIGGEST jazz fan ever!!!
We hope you all had a safe and fun 4th...our was amazing!!!

YUBA LAKE!!

This last weekend we went to yuba lake with Josh's family, we had a ton of fun...Josh's cousins friends came out with us and brought their boat, we had so much fun on it, thanks Aaron and Emily for letting us hang out on your boat, the kids had so much fun. My camera wasn't working all that great so my pictures didn't turn out all that good...but here are a few.

Dallin and Koda getting ready to go for a ride on the wave runner..
Koda on the boat, he is the one in the middle in the blue life jacket. Some of the people who went with us.
Mike showing M'Tali how to play badminton..
Dallin and Kenzie playing..
I had a lot more pictures but they turned out really blurry...these are a few that showed how much FUN we had. Today the 22nd is also Maegan's 29th birthday...HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAEGAN...Love ya tonz.

M'Tali 1st Track Meet

This is M'Tali first time participating in the Hershey 100 track meet. She joined the after school track club at her school and they trained two days a week and got them ready for this track meet, she had alot of fun and wants to take up track as a hobby now, she is so athletic, if she sticks with it she could be such a great athlete. I just want to tell her how proud I am of her, she didn't win first in any of the three event she participated but she never gave up and tried her best, good job M'Tali I am so proud of you!!! This is M'Tali hanging out with her friends before the meet started. Lining up for the 50 meter yard dash. She came in sixth place

Throwing the ball for the softball throw. You had to compete in three events, two had to be track and one had to be a field event, she wanted to do the softball throw instead of the standing long jump. We don't know what place she took because we left before they had it posted but if she received a ribbon they will mail it to us so we will let you know how she did when we find out. Running the 100 meter yard dash, she came in last place but did really good. I would never even think about doing this, she makes me so proud. Way to NOT give up M'Tali!! Keep it up and you can achieve your goals.(Look at those long legs)
Throwing the softball, I think she did really good but I'm a little prejudice:)
M'Tali, me and dad want you now how proud we are of you, we know that you stuggle with certain things in life but you never give up no matter what. You always stick with it and give it your ALL, you are such a wonderful example to me. You teach me that things might not always go the way I want them but it doesn't mean you give up, you keep going and thing WILL work out and be ok. I just want to thank you for being the person you are. Keep being YOU and never change the person you are on the inside. We love you so much and are so proud of all you have accomplished. Love mom and dad.